Reporting sexual assault is difficult for many reasons, from the personal desire to sometimes to just move on, to the more public potential for ridicule and “shame”. Victims are often victimized a second or even a third time if they attempt to bring their attackers and their actions into the light. Often, if the attacker is of some note the accuser is said to be seeking fame and or fortune.
It is vitally important that we end these cultural barriers, for the sake of the current victims and the potential victims of these abusers and the lives they ruin. Call out those who would seek to shame and humiliate brave women and men who come forward to report sexual assault, support those who risk much to reveal the truth.
And there is another reason (SacBee Letters Section, 10/25/16):